Azerbaijan, Baku, Nov.20/ Trend G.Mehdi/
The Iranian administration has banned the building of a dam around Lake Urmia in a bid to save it from drying out, the Mehr News Agency quoted Energy Minister Majid Namjoo as saying.
However those projects underway will not be stopped, he added.
The director of the Environmental Protection Organisation said in May that constructing dams on rivers which pour into the lake is banned.
"On the order of the president, the construction of any new dam in this region is forbidden," Mohammad Javad Mohammadizadeh told reporters.
He said 19 dams have been constructed at the lake over the years which holds up to 1.8 billion cubic meters of water for agricultural, industrial and housing purposes.
Lake Urmia is a salt lake lying in north-western Iran. It is the third largest salt water lake on earth with a surface area of approximately 5200 square kilometres.
UNESCO has registered the lake as a Biosphere Reserve and it is listed as a wetland of international importance under the 1971 Ramsar Convention.
Experts have long warned that natural factors coupled with human activity, will cause the lake to dry up in the near future if nothing is done.
Declining rainfall, climate change and rising temperatures are accelerating the evaporation process at the lake.